Howitzer Hill
An NCR camp in Arizona near the border with Mexico. Establishment and History The fortifications aren't intricate like Kimball Point and there aren't too many civilians around like Bullhead City, Howitzer Hill is sort of an oddball in these senses. However one cannot doubt the effectiveness of the base in keeping the Legion on their side of the Colorado River. You see even before the war the hill that would become Howitzer Hill was empty, not many people traveled out that way you see. Nope most folks were content to stay in their cars on the highway so the hill was relatively untouched when the NCR scout came upon it in early 2260. The hill itself was a huge imposing formation dominating the terrain around it, the hill is for the most part dirt held together by cacti, brush and a few plants and other desert shrubbery. So when the NCR wanted something to sit in front of its heartland and protect it from the butchers of Arizona, the hill seemed ideal for that purpose. The NCR only deployed about a company there at first, they set up their base on the top of that hill, except you wouldn't know it the NCR engineers and troopers dug into the hill creating dugouts, bunkers, and pillboxes all reinforced with cement from the nearby quarries. The company posted there was under the command of a young Major John Conrad, later to be a powerful tobacco planter. He was an excellent commander holding the hill despite being on the tail end of a long supply line, troop shortages, low amounts of food and ammo and in general being neglected by the NCR Quartermaster's Corp. Yet his losses were frightfully high and so it soon became apparent that something needed to be done or the hill would have to be abandoned, so John called his HQ and asked for some support he got six howitzers recovered by the NCR. These were put to rather effective use, bombarding the Legion as they moved in across the flat desert, all the while running through a minefield, then as they neared the base of the hill their ranks are broken up by machine gun fire and their chain of command is picked off by Veteran Ranger snipers. The men who reach the hill are easy pickings for the trooper's service rifle. Thus the Legion have simply been unable to take the hill from the NCR and break through their ring of defenses. Operations and Incidents Throughout its history, Howitzer Hill has played host to spec ops teams, mercenaries and anyone else headed into Arizona with a bone to pick with the Legion. Operation Broken Rock A group of NCR Rangers and 1st Recon Sniper called Task Force Jackal was sent to operate covertly in Arizona, its not known much about their whereabouts but rumors floating out of Arizona of Legion supply convoys winding up dead, Legates and Centurions found without their heads during the night can probably be linked to them. The Only known details about Operation Broken Rock is that they were headed for an old Fort named Huachuca. Operation King Pin This operation was carried out by a group of Elite Rangers and mercenaries belonging to The Californians, its purpose was to secure a weapon of sorts that NCR scouts had found in Arizona, it is not known what this weapon is or was but the men posted at the base recall seeing a blinding flash of light coming from the way of Flagstaff during a quiet summer night, it was distant but many say its was nearly blinding in its intensity. The Great Raid A group of Californian mercenaries led by Tom Blackburn crossed the river here to go raise some hell in Arizona, the group returned several months later actually stronger than it was when it went into Arizona. The Incident of October 3rd, 2272 Not many folks who were there like to talk about what happened October 3rd, and most aren't even allowed to. But here are the few details that are known, at some point during the night when the whole base except for some sentries were sleeping there was a tremendous roar of engines over the camp when suddenly the base came under attack as beams of laser fire and bolts of plasma flew over the heads of the sleeping troopers, they jumped to action and fought back and the attackers were beaten off but the losses were in horrendous from the attack. As for the official report, the NCR staff has banned any official acknowledgment of the attack, and has banned any personnel from talking about it until what happens is clear. The Incident of November 8th, 2275 This incident is again cloaked in secrecy from the NCR command, it involves a midnight attack by what is described by a towering robot, this is all the detail put into the report and the casualty figures are well into the hundreds. No further information is known at this time. category:New California Republic Category:Places Category:Sites